Conservative government will be better off facing the elephant in the room than downplaying fuel shortages and blaming consumers
UK prime minister Boris Johnson. Picture: CHRIS J RATCLIFFE/GETTY IMAGES
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing his biggest competence test since Brexit and Covid-19. Passing it will require more than the short-term fixes being mooted so far. Critics of the government have been quick to blame Brexit. That includes the man likely to replace Angela Merkel as the leader of Europe’s largest economy. “The free movement of labour is part of the EU,” Olaf Scholz, the Social Democratic Party leader, said on Monday. “We worked very hard to convince the British not to leave the union. Now they decided different and I hope they will manage the problems coming from that.
So far, the British government’s response to fuel shortages has consisted of denials and shortsighted fixes, and celebrating the wage hikes in the sector as a Brexit dividend. Wage increases may be welcome, but they are unlikely to be enough to replenish the supply of drivers. Plans to issue three-month visas for up to 5,000 EU drivers assumes people will actually want to return to poorer driving conditions for a short duration. That is far from certain.
On top of these, the government could also, for a limited period, provide loans for driver training, which costs at least £4,000, that are repayable out of income following employment.
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